Journal entry by jessica brovitz —
On April 10th Susan and Sean Lee received devastating news, their 4 year old son, Mason, was diagnosed with leukemia. Life as they know it, family trips, summer outings, work and career plans, everything came to a screeching halt. Mason was admitted to the hospital and began intensive treatment immediately to give his little body the strongest chance of beating his scary diagnosis.
Fortunately, Mason has a lot of ammunition in his arsenal for the fight ahead. First and foremost, he's Mason. Anyone who's experienced his firey, strong-willed personality knows that leukemia doesn't stand a chance. He's receiving care with some of the best resources medicine and cancer treatment have to offer. And his standard of care is so high, for the first few days of his stay he was certain he was in a hotel. His diagnosis, while scary, is the most common form of childhood leukemia, and therefore one of the most well-researched and treatable forms. Plus he's got his ace home team of Susan, Sean, and James, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, plus all of us, to cheer him on and support Susan and Sean for the long and difficult journey ahead.
And a long and difficult journey it will certainly be. Right now, Mason's body is being ravaged by the intensive drugs that are literally poisoning him to get rid of the invasive cancerous cells. Even just a few days into treatment, steroids are making him feel sick, enraged, listless, and sad, sometimes all within a span of 15 minutes. In Susan and Sean's up-side-down new reality, they are slowly processing the toll leukemia will take on their family above and beyond the scary diagnosis. The unfortunate reality is that wrapped up in the stress over their son's health is the stress of the financial burden that is ahead of them. Health insurance doesn't cover everything, but above and beyond that are all the hidden costs - time away from work, parking, take-out and delivery, and all the myriad things they will need to keep the ship afloat at home.
A cancer diagnosis is always heartbreaking, but when the patient is a child, it is almost unfathomable. When I first found out about Mason, I was overwhelmed with helplessness. I wanted to comfort my friends and ease Mason's pain and discomfort, but felt there was little I could do. But there are things that we, the community of people who know and love the Lee Family, can do. We can let them know we're behind them and can help make sure that their burden is limited to the care and healing of Mason. By contributing to this Fund, we can take one major stressor off of the Lees' plate. Please donate what you can, share a message of encouragement, and let them know that they don't fight alone.
Fortunately, Mason has a lot of ammunition in his arsenal for the fight ahead. First and foremost, he's Mason. Anyone who's experienced his firey, strong-willed personality knows that leukemia doesn't stand a chance. He's receiving care with some of the best resources medicine and cancer treatment have to offer. And his standard of care is so high, for the first few days of his stay he was certain he was in a hotel. His diagnosis, while scary, is the most common form of childhood leukemia, and therefore one of the most well-researched and treatable forms. Plus he's got his ace home team of Susan, Sean, and James, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, plus all of us, to cheer him on and support Susan and Sean for the long and difficult journey ahead.
And a long and difficult journey it will certainly be. Right now, Mason's body is being ravaged by the intensive drugs that are literally poisoning him to get rid of the invasive cancerous cells. Even just a few days into treatment, steroids are making him feel sick, enraged, listless, and sad, sometimes all within a span of 15 minutes. In Susan and Sean's up-side-down new reality, they are slowly processing the toll leukemia will take on their family above and beyond the scary diagnosis. The unfortunate reality is that wrapped up in the stress over their son's health is the stress of the financial burden that is ahead of them. Health insurance doesn't cover everything, but above and beyond that are all the hidden costs - time away from work, parking, take-out and delivery, and all the myriad things they will need to keep the ship afloat at home.
A cancer diagnosis is always heartbreaking, but when the patient is a child, it is almost unfathomable. When I first found out about Mason, I was overwhelmed with helplessness. I wanted to comfort my friends and ease Mason's pain and discomfort, but felt there was little I could do. But there are things that we, the community of people who know and love the Lee Family, can do. We can let them know we're behind them and can help make sure that their burden is limited to the care and healing of Mason. By contributing to this Fund, we can take one major stressor off of the Lees' plate. Please donate what you can, share a message of encouragement, and let them know that they don't fight alone.
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